Shoe-heel



' J. A. FORMANACK.

SHOE HEEL.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE) JOSEPH A. FORMANACK, 0F ST. LOUIS,MISSOURI.

SHOE-HEEL.

have invented certain new and useful ]m-' provcments in Shoe-Heels, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, referencebeing had io the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to heels for shoes, and particularly to heels forwomens shoes that are high and of the type commonly known as Frenchheels. French heels as ordinarily used on womens shoes are usually madeof wood turned to thc required shape. The heel is fastened at its top tothe sole of the shoe and has affixed to the face of its tread a liftmade of leather, rubbcr, or some elastic or semiclastic substance, whichserves the double purpose of reducing the noise of the heel striking ona hard substance and also making it casier for the wearer of the shoe.The treads wear out quickly and have to be replaced, and after severalnew treads have been tacked to the wooden heel, the heel usually breaksor splits and then it becomes necessary to supply a new one. Metal heelshave been used, but it` has been found dillicult tio fasten the lift tothe face of the tread so that it will be fairly permanent.

The object .of my invention is to provide a metallic heel with meanswhereby a lift may be easily and quickly attached to the face of thetread; and a further object of my invention is to provide a meanswhereby a leather or rubber lift may be cheaply and securely fastened tothe face of the tread of a metallic heel without the use of glue, or anynon-metallic fastening devices.

My invention is fully shown in the accompanying drawings where similarletters are used to designate similar parts. Figure 1 vis an elevationof a shoe having a heel embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertialsection of the heel shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a View of the face of thetread of the heel without the fastening device; Fig. 1L is a view of theface of the tread of the heel ready to have applied to it the lift;Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are enlarged, inverted crosssections of modifiedconstructions of the fastening devices used to hold the lift in place;and Fig. 8 is a view looking at the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

Application led May 5, 1919. Serial No. 294.771.

lbotom of a lift after it is in place on the Referring to the figures, Ais a womans shoe which is provided with a metal heel B. The lift C ispreferably made of leather or rubber and is fastened to the face of thelower part or tread of the heel B. The top of the heel is provided withnails D which are, preferably, cast with the heel and which are forcedthrough the sole of the shoe and clenched over onto the upper surface ofthe soleiso as to hold the heel in place. The face of the tread isprovided with a oove E which is substantially semicircu ar in shape soas to follow the contour of the face of the tread. This grooveterminates at the points F short of the front of the heel, and it is`preferably, provided with one or more bridges G. H and J are wings whichare preferably cast onto the ends of the bridges G and project upwardlyas shown in Fig. 3, so as to allow a wire K to be placed in the grooveE. The bridges ,G are so formed that when the wire K is in place andresting thereupon the wire is thereby prevented from contacting with thesides or bottom of the groove. After the wire K has been put in thegroove the wings H and .T are hammered down so as to close over and ontothe wire and thus hold it in place. The groove E is formed with arounded roof which merges into the upper ends of the outer and innerfaces, L and M respectively, of the groove. conform to the shape of theface of the tread of the heel and is then applied thereto and nails Nare driven through the lift into the groove E to one side of the wire Kso that as the nails are forced through the ends thereof will contactwith the rounded roof of the groove, or with one side and the roofl ofthe groove, and be bent and made to hook over the wire K. Fig. 5 showsthe groove E made with both sides Haring outwardly toward the face ofthe tread; while Fig. 6 shows the groove made with the outer sideflaring outwardly and the inner side substantially vat right angles tothe face of the tread, and with the roof rounded; and Fig. 7 shows thegroove formed with a rounded roof but with both sides substanti ally atright angles to the face of the tread. In every case the wire K is to beheld spaced away from at least one side of the groove and e150 from thebottom thereof, so that The lift C is eut to the nails may be driveninto the groove on one side of the wire and be made to hook over the topof the wire. In order that the lift may Ibe held securely in place it ispreferable that the wire shall be so spaced from the bottom of thegroove that the nails in passing around the wire will tend to depressthe wire from the roof of the groove. The grooves shown in Figs. 5 and 6make it easier for the Workmen to apply the lift C, since the nails neednot be driven with such exactness as to location in order to make thementer the groove. The bending of the nails is done in the groovesshown'in Figs. 5 and 6 by the combined action of a side and the roof fthe groove, while the bending of the nails in the structure shown inFig. 8 is caused almost wholly by the rounded roof of the groove.

It is evident that -the size and shape of the groove together with thesize and length of the wire placed therein may be varied' withoutdeparting from the splrit of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire by Letters Patent, is:

l. A metallic heel for shoes having in the face of its tread a groove, awire in said to secure groove spaced away from a side and the roofthereof, means whereby said wire is held in place, a lift engaging theface of the tread, and nails driven through said lift against the roofof said groove, saidgroove having its cross-sectional contour so shapedas to cause said driven nails to be bent and hooked over said Vwire. f

2. A metallic heel for shoes having in the face of its tread a groovewith -a rounded roof, a wire in said groove spaced away from a side andthe roof thereof, means whereby said wire is held in place, alift-engaging the face of the tread, and nails driven through said'liftagainst the rounded roof of said groove whereby the same are bent'andhooked over said wire.

3. A metallic heel for shoes having in the face of its tread agroovewith inclined sides and a Arounded roof,.a wirev in said groove spacedaway from the sides and the roof thereof, means whereby said wire isheldin place, a lift engaging the face ofthe tread, and nails driventhrough said lift against a side and the roo-f of said groove wherebythe same are bent and hooked over said wire.

4. A 4metallic heel for shoes having in the face of the tread a groovewith a rounded roof, a wire in said groove, bridges across and a roundedroof, a wire in said groove,.

bridges across said groove -whereby said wire is held away from thesides and the roof of said groove, wings on said bridges whereby saidwire is held in place, a lift engaging the face of the tread, and nailsdriven through said lift against a side and the rounded roof of saidgroove' whereby the same are bent and hooked over said wire.

6. A metal body having a groove in one face, a wire in said groovespaced away from a side and the roof thereof, means whereby said wire isheld in place,- a nonmetallic covering for said face, andv nails driventhrough said covering against the roof of said groove, said groovehaving its cross-sectional contour so shaped as to cause said drivennails to be bent and hooked over said wire. I

7. A metal body having in one face -a groove with a rounded roof, a wirein said groove spaced away from a side and the roof thereof, meanswhereby said wire is held in. place, a non-metallic covering for saidface, and nails driven through said covering inst the rounded roof ofsaid groove a a wereby the same are bent `and hooked over said wire. Q

In witness whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOSEPH A. FORMANACK.

